Thunder rolling in PCB
PANAMA CITY BEACH - Dave Pribula and his two workers were hard at it Tuesday afternoon.
All around them were the sounds of a tent city going up. The dull "thunk" of a sledgehammer driving metal tent pegs into the asphalt echoed off the storefronts at the Shoppes at Edgewater. Several massive tractor-trailer trucks edged into the cantonment, their diesel engines growling softly. A stiff wind in from the water made loose tent flaps and banners snap loudly.
"We have two days to set up; then we're ready to sell," said Pribula, owner of Wake Forest, N.C.-based Custom Dynamics LLC, a vendor of LED lighting accessories for motorcycles.
Overhead, worker Meghan Barrett helped to finish securing a large fabric awning along the side of Pribula's 40-foot Renegade motor home.
Similar scenes were going on all over the shopping center parking lot as vendors unpacked their wares, set up tents and display areas.
And in the background came an occasional other sound: Harley-Davidsons and other heavy cycles rumbling past on Beckrich Road.
The first trickle of motorcycles for the 10th anniversary Thunder Beach Spring Rally already has materialized at the Beach. A handful of motorcyclists arriving for the five-day event have been joined by the first influx of several hundred vendors driving down from events in Georgia and Nevada, as the spring motorcycle rally season comes to town.
Beginning tonight, Panama City Beach will become Cycle City, as the first surge of what organizers estimate to be up to 60,000 motorcycle enthusiasts roar into town.
This year, the twiceyearly rally has added two new venues to the five it operated last September: Sharky's Beach Club, 15201 Front Beach Road, and Newby's Too sports bar, 4103 Thomas Drive. The main "biker city" is again at Frank Brown Park, and "biker villages" will be at Spinnaker Beach Club, Boardwalk Beach Resort, Shoppes at Edgewater and Sandpiper Beacon Beach Resort.
For Thunder Beach Productions coordinators Joe Biggs and Kevin Karns, along with Executive Producer Corky McCollum, this calm before the storm is a storm into itself.
"Each one will have everything from (equipment) installation bays to lots of different accessories vendors to lots of clothing and motorcycle apparel," McCollum said.
Karns, hired last fall as general manager of Thunder Beach, said he was looking forward to his first rally as a staffer.
"It's great," he said, then added: "After it's up and running."
To ensure a quick startup, Thunder Beach has hired "venue managers" for each of the seven sites. They are responsible for managing the influx of vendors, troubleshooting problems that might flare up and serving as information sources.
Toni Woodruff, an experienced rally supervisor at the Buffalo Chip Campground in Sturgiss, S.D., site of the world's largest motorcycle rally each August, is in town to manage the Boardwalk Beach Resort venue.
"Planning is always the best tool, especially knowing who is coming," Woodruff said of the vendors. "Vendors are pretty self-sufficient, but we help them set up properly, make sure the electricity is up and running.
"Long-term vendors make a route across the country" from rally to rally, Woodruff said. Most are coming to the Beach from rallies last week in Leesburg, Ga., and the annual "River Run" in Laughlin, Nev.
Asked if the recent spike in gasoline prices might crimp attendance this week, McCollum shook his head. Most participants will come from a six-hour "drive market" in the Southeast and already had made reservations and plans before the surge in prices.
Vendors, on the other hand, are feeling the pinch.
"The price of gas is cutting into the profits," Pribula said. "Gas is at $4.15 a gallon for diesel, and we get 7 miles per gallon. We had a 15-hour drive down I-95 and across on I-10. Every time we fill up, it's $400, and we filled up 2½ times coming down here."
"We still have to get out there to motorcycle rallies," Pribula said. "That's where all of our customers gather."
Thunder Beach kicks off this evening with preview concerts at six of the venues:
- Dan Lawson Band at the Shoppes at Edgewater from 7 to 9 p.m.
- Grip playing at Sharky's Beach Club from 6 to 10 p.m.
- Mustang Sally appearing at Sandpiper Beacon Tiki Bar beginning at 7 p.m.
- Horizon performing at Newby's Too from 8 to 11 p.m.
- Janelle Frost playing at Momma's Place at 6908 Thomas Drive from 7 to 10 p.m.
In addition, Sandpiper Beacon will host a fireworks kickoff party starting at 8:45 p.m.